In the 153-kilometre-long sixth stage of the race, from Numany to Fano, on Monday, Germany’s Marcel Kittel came first with a time of 3:49.54, while Slovakia’s Peter Sagan came second, despite a crash which slowed him down near Fano, and Argentina's Maximiliano Richeze came third, both with the same time as Kittel.

Kwiatkowski came 16th in the UCI World Tour race, also with a time of 3:49.54.

After the sixth leg of the race and with a total time of 25:21.22, Kwiatkowski retained a three-second lead over Italian Damiano Caruso and a 23-second lead over Spaniard Mikel Landa.

The 53rd edition of the competition, known as the Race of the Two Seas, was scheduled to end on Tuesday with a 10-kilometre time trial stage in San Benedetto del Tronto.

First held in 1966, the race has evolved over time to its current format of seven stages over seven days, with sprints, climbs, time trials and an uphill sprint finish. It starts on the eastern Tyrrhenian coast before crossing the spine of the Italian peninsula to the Adriatic Sea. (vb/gs)